The Pearl Insider - Figaro (Vol 29 No 1)

7/31/2019 The Pearl Insider - Figaro (Vol 29 No 1)

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THE INSIDER:FIGARO

The Insider gives you the kind

of rich context and detail

that you expect from yourexperience at The Pearl.

Your subscription, ticketpurchases, and donationsmade it possible. Thank you.

Inside

From the Artistic D

Becoming Beaum

On the Adaptor: A

A Comedic Pedigr

Timeline 1637 - 17

Other Inside

Tuesday TalksJoin the artists who m

story on its journey r

Curtain Up Classics

Learn more about the

the play in this inorm

Shakespeare Talks:

Directing Shakespe

A riveting and fascin

challenges and rewa

playwright in the En

partnership with the


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FROM THE ARTISTICDIRECTOR

The excitement is building.

Much more than the newPearl season is on the way. Its

nothing less than the launch

of a new era in the life ofNew Yorks classical theatre

company.

When The Pearl opens a d

o a amed comic master

Beaumarchais, it will mar

advance or our theatre. T

and that amous comic c

dodging about on The Pe

Street near Eleventh Ave

perormances rom The P

The promise o richly rew

Resident Acting Compa

designers is already to be

meeting now underway

season.James DeVitas Istory o imaginative trans

William Shakespeare. That

the great dramatists remcharacters the likes o Jac

Hotspur carry orth the ta

then, to crown the year, T

premiere of a new play

McNally. And Away We Gancient Athens to a rehe

takes o rom there to 17

play by Chekhov to an un

American premiere oWapermanent home or The

rom New Yorks classical

As to that frst show, Cha

invigorating Figaro that

Pearl. Pierre Augustin Ca

or that trio o plays that


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the frst being The Barber of Seville and then, o course, The

Marriage of Figaro each orming the basis or amous operas o

the same titles. But i someone gets around to writing the story

o Beaumarchais lie, The Pearl may be looking into presenting

that as well.

According to his own memoirs, this comic master was also

a spy, smuggler, fnancier, musician and even a watchmaker

(his athers trade and the one he frst practiced inventing an

escapement mechanism or timepieces that is essentially still in

practical use). He was married three times, spent a number o

years in Spain (the setting o course or the Figaro comedies),

and even though he returned to France to write very popular

comedies lampooning the aristocracy while decrying injustices

visited upon the lower classes he was later under suspicion or

his wealth by the revolutionaries who overthrew the aristocratic

system and imprisoned as a consequence. But his name liveson in comedy and music alike, and the character o Figaro (to be

played by resident acting company member Sean McNall) will

live on as well.

The Pearl is powered by your presence and sustaining support.

We are deeply grateul and look orward to welcoming you

to all o the great shows we have in store or this exciting

inaugural season on 42nd Street.

J. R. Sullivan

Artistic Director

BECOMINGBEAUMARCby Kate Farrington

Pierre-AugBeaumarch

tradespl

politician, e

and occasio

made his fo

among the

and gained

mocking th

found ther


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It started with a pocket watch.

To be precise, with the innards o a pocket watch. These jewel-encrusted timepieces o the 18th century made or grandashion statementsbut were utter ailures at telling time.While working in his athers Paris shop, Pierre-Augustin Caron,a young man o no breeding or amily, hit on a design thatdrastically improved a watchs accuracy. Brimming with pride,

he confded his fndings to the kings personal watchmaker,who praised the young mans ingenuityand promptly pileredhis design.

Young he might be, but Pierre-Augustin was no ool. He ranto the Paris papers and threw himsel (no doubt dramaticallyand with wild gesticulations) on the mercy o public opinion.Writing the story o this terrible thet, he cast himsel in therole o budding inventor and innocent victim, powerless andwithout recourse in the cruel, cruel world. The Parisian publictook the wronged young man to its collective bosom; andwhen a well-publicized court case ound in his avor, they hailedPierre-Augustin, the underdog who triumphed, as a hero.

Parlaying his newound ame into an entre to court, hepresented watches to the king and his amily, earning theirpraiseand a post as the kings newpersonal watchmaker(revenge is sweet). He married a widow o good ortune,purchased a position at court, and enlarged his name to ft hisnew rankPierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. At 24 hehad learned two vital lessons: with an enthusiastic audience

on your side, anything is possible; and, when ate or hard workhand you an unexpected chance at good ortune its time torun with it.

So began a wild ridea long improbable career that reectedthe whirling times he lived in. Inventor, musician, composer,merchant, ambassador, spy, gunrunner, prisoner (severaltimes), royalist, reormer, outcast, and, o course, playwright:Beaumarchais played more roles in any given year than most

people manage in a lietirose and ell, but always htoward his next great entits zenith nearly thirty yeservant stood beore a raalike and told them the egiddy ortune, persecutiocatastrophe that had bro

In The Marriage of Figaro,panoply o conniving chacitizens o Paris certainly lie story. But there was mmany heard the low rumtopple the world they knunfnished, rightening, a

But in 1756, at 24, our heimportant uturehis ow

For years, Beaumarchais music teacher and compinvestor. He wrote impudsuccessul), and serious dcharmed every woman hkept a string o mistressebusinessmen, and enemthe upstart Nobody rom

But his ortunes took a tudeaths o his wie and twa brawl that pitted him ahad gleeully evisceratedentire legal system in a se

judge nor the legal systestripped o his civil rights

Disgraced, but determine


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became (why not?) a spy. He dashed around Europe gatheringintelligence, hounding treasonous pamphleteers, and acingdown highwaymen. He spent a month (or as he moanedto his riends, 44,640 interminable minutes) in an Austrianprison. Louis XVI called him a madman but relied on him.Beaumarchais was having the time o his lie. He even oundtime to write The Barber of Seville, which premiered in 1775 tothunderous applause.

But Beaumarchais was ar too busy to ocus on playwriting(or anything) or long. The American colonies, on the brink orebellion, needed aid. Armed with tacit government approvaland a ew million livres in secret unds, he set up a shippingcompany and played cat-and-mouse with the ever-suspiciousBritish navy while his small eet o merchant ships smuggledarms to the grateul colonies. Beaumarchais poured much ohis personal ortune into this work. The cause o America is inmany respects the cause o humanity, he declared. One can

almost see him imagining a nation o on-the-make Figaros: anation o innovators rebelling against injustice; a country beingmolded by the working class, and thereore built not on birth,but on talent. Think o the possibilities. . .

Every step o this career played out under the avid eyes othe public, who cheered him on as though his victories weretheir own, laughed at the messes he ound himsel inandshouted in the streets when he was badly used by the state.Beaumarchais treated the people o France (rich and poor,

noble and commoner) as his intimate riends, his best judges,and his loyal companions. Fellow playwrights sometimesdismissed him as a businessman and intriguer who dabbled inart when the mood struck him. But why should he look to theacademies and philosophers or approval when the people oFrance were on his side? They loved him or it. Even when publicopinion occasionally turned against him, he always ound a way tobring them around.

When the theatrical moobegan work on a play thaadventure, and personal denounce the powerul, condemn injustice and reoutrageously unny.

FIGARO REVISITED

Several years have passegood ortune to bump ino Seville and to win the Dr. Bartholowith Figarohappily ever aterbut tcountess unhappy and th

Tomorrow, Figaro is set tocountess maid Suzanne. is determined to seduce

act ast. I need a little schinto action, ready to takeanyone else who gets in counterplots, happy acciensuewith Figaro and through a gauntlet o mahappiness.

When Louis XVI heard thdeclared that only the al

dangerous event than Thperormance. Beaumarchreading it to every aristocorced to give in.

The frst perormance in lightning bolt. The nobiliclass laughed at the nobithrilled to the righteous i


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a brie moment, the political discourse was in the mouths o thevoiceless. And what they had to say was startling.

On the eve o the revolution George Danton would put it evenmore bluntly: Figaro killed the aristocracy.

In January o 1789 Abb Sieys published a short pamphletexamining the situation o the millions o French citizens who,under the archaic eudal French political system, were almost

powerless. It was called: What is the Third Estate?He began thework with three stark statements:

What is the Third Estate? Everything.

What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing.

What does it ask? To become something.

A series o bad harvests, tax hikes that aected the workingclass but not the nobility, war that had crippled the economy,rampant ination, a corrupt legal system, and the undeniable

truth that millions o voices crying out or help or justice weregoing unheard. And the word was traveling ast through cas,salons, and streets: i America had shaken o a tyrants yoke,so could France. Within a ew short months France would seeancient powers topple, one government all and another rise.In the peoples quest to become something their revolutionwould take a terriying and unoreseeable directionbut no onedenied the need or change.

For the frst time in his lie Beaumarchais, now past 60, did

not leap into the ray. Reorm was one thing, bloody rebellionanother. He was no paragon o revolutionary spirit or nationalpatriotismhe was an intimate o the court (when they wereon speaking terms), a man who enjoyed luxury and privilege,and a shameless glory hound. He was everything the revolutiondespised.

In 1792 he wrote his fnal Figaro play, set twenty years aterMarriage. Figaro still schemed, still worked or the good o the

Counts amilybut the hFigaro has no place in a wand patriotismand neitgreat companion in all hisout o avor (and in and oBeaumarchais could only or the return o gentler ti

For a long time, he onceto fght; and I would eel dthe other hand that to fgmusician, watchmaker, orwas doing as long as the ssomething else got himhadnt been beore: with measure.

The conscious choice to bonce you strike out on theyoull end up. As Figaro redoesnt happen in the wo

The Pearl Theatre Compastage o our own becomnew homethrilled at thgrateul or the chance togiddy at this newest advewe (like Figaro) have the bto share our adventure

champions, shrewd criticswhatever this journey brionewith misadventurealong the way.

Fate and hard work haveortunetime to run wit


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ON THE ADAPTOR:ALL THE MOREY DETAILS

Charles Morey is a man of

many talents: award-winning

playwright, translator,

adaptor, director, actor, and a

former artistic director of both

the Peterborough Players and

the Pioneer Theatre Company.We asked him to chat a bit

about his life in the theatre

and his work on The Marriage

of Figaro.

Youve worked on numer

plays and novels) in addit

Laughing Stock, The Yell

Man (freely adapted fro

of the 19th century class

A Tale of Two Cities, The H

Three Musketeers wha

attracts you? How did you

When I was frst attracted

college, I thought I was g

quickly seduced to the d

career as an actor, eventu

directing and producing

came back around to tha

my frst adaptation was A

The impulse behind it wa

novel and I wanted to dirfnd one that captured th

my own. It turned out to

adapt our more 19th cen

interspersed with writing

two decades.

The attraction o adaptati

o translating, say, one tho

dialogue and action withiremaining aithul to the e

original. With a play, the ta

language into a contempo

a period eel; and also to t

into a modern theatricality

period plays, a major task

economically viable or a 2


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What rst attracted you to this particular play?

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I had never read

The Marriage of Figaro beore The Pearl approached me about

commissioning an adaptation. I knew it only as the source o

Da Pontes libretto or the amous Mozart opera. But when I

did read it, I was immediately taken by how unny it is. I love

arce. Ive written two and directed many and Figaro has all the

elements o classic arce.

As you worked on the script, was there anything you

discovered that surprised you?

As I worked through the original text and began to read a bit

about Beaumarchais I was surprised and intrigued to learn

how controversial the play had been in its time and what a

proound impact it had on the politics and history o late 18th

century France. Louis XVI banned the play or several years but

was ultimately prevailed upon by Marie Antoinette to allow

its presentation at court. At frst glance, or a contemporary

reader, the original doesnt appear to be wildly subversive,

to be honest. But, when you read more closely it becomes

clear that underneath the humor is an up-ending o the social

order that is undamental to the arce orm itsel and a deep

populist anger that resonates very distinctly in an age when

income inequality has yet again become a societal issue. The

contemporary political relevance became something that reallyexcited me. It also intrigued me how sel-reerential the play

was to its audience in 1784. Everyone who saw it knew the

central character was based upon Pierre Augustin Caron de

Beaumarchais himsel and Figaros lie, troubles and escapades

mirrored those o Beaumarchais. The dramaturgical question

became: how to reect that sort o sel-reerential quality or an

audience most o whom would know little o Beaumarchais?

My answer was to take a

to this adaptation that w

the audience and share t

piece.

Why do you think the ch

Ater the frst production

rapidly became iconic in satirized and told truth to

Le Figaro was ounded to

spirit o Beaumarchais cr

old, old staple o the thea

whose origins you can se

Commedia dellarte; ollo

and Feydeau, and right in

include both Groucho Ma

Whats up next for you?

I have two new plays I am

adaptations, one based o

and orgery that happen

a contemporary comedy

geriatric sex arce. Im bo

Les Misrables back at Pio

as artistic director or 28

production o my backstathat. Beyond thatIm w


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A COMIC PEDIDREE:THE COMMEDIA TRADITION

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette

rst heard the controversialMarriage of Figaro read to them

in the privacy of their rooms

in the palace of Versailles.The

king was restless, constantly

interrupting the reading

to comment on the script.That was in bad taste! he

exclaimed at one point. The

man constantly brings Italian

conceits into the scene.

The play skirted the edge

social commentary were

do and biting satireand

had its place, o course; b

world o French comedy

dia dellarte territory.

Rough and tumble, impro

commedia dellarte has ke

o years. In late 15th century

the Middle Ages took the

companies and wandere

markets and town square

peppered with local colo

towns local tavern. These

stories o young lovers tr

miserly athers or suitors. Twho appeared in every pl

By the time Beaumarcha

commedia dellarte stretc

across Europe, a tradition

bawdy humor. The brillia

cent comedies o manne

their roots in commedia s

commedias stock fgures

their day.

Beaumarchais created so

dangerously unny in Th

garos quick wit and Coun

be seen the shadow o ch

(and that would stretch


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Brighella

Brash, ruthless, devious, earless,

and a tactical genius, Brighella

is the brains o any devious

operation launched in the

commedia-verse. Defnitely

no ladies man, hes still up or

a irtation when it suits his

purposes. He has no peskyconscience to hinder his plans,

so this servant serves his master

with cunning and asperity.

Arlecchino

Known or his amorous ambitions

and his sometimes incongruous

navet, Arlecchino (like his

ellow servant Brighella) doesnt

have much o a conscience

but hes a little less vicious.

His plans arent always air-

tight, and though cunning,hes generally better suited to

general mischie and devilry

than tactical maneuvering. He

can almost always be ound in

the company o Columbina,

the woman he loveswho, or

reasons best known to hersel,

loves him back.

Punchinella

Hes mean, hes vicious, a

hes defnitely craty. His

modus operandi is to pla

dumbno one would su

such a simple ellow to

know whats going on. S

physical irregularity is al

attached to the charactehunched back or bizarre

nose. He is a confrmed b

who loves to chase the

ladies but somehow, t

never get caught.


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Il Dottore

He is a supposedly learned

man most notable or his

pomposity and bluster. Usually a

riend (and sometimes a rival)

o Pantalone, he is always on

the lookout or a scheme that

will prove his cleverness and

secure his wealth. Whether hesspouting bad Latin or ailing to

cure the simplest disease, he is

a quackand like Pantalone,

never comes out on top.

Pantalone

A rich, elderly gentleman o

leisure, oten miserly and always

jealous, Pantalone is usually to

be seen with a young wie or

an adventurous daughter who

inevitably escapes his clutches

to y to the arms o a lover.

Sometimes he himsel is chasinga woman o ortune and/or

beauty and she slips through

his clutches at the last second.

The Inamorati

These poetic and handsom

always equipped to overco

They rely on the ingenuity

Columbina to oil parents,

ever ater.


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TIMELINE

Inthemid1

7thcenturyabur

stofinnovationinliterature,

science,ph

ilosophy,anda

rtsweptacross

France,

leavinglastingartisticchangesinitswake.Thetheatre

emergedre

vitalized,sparkinganeraofextre

mecreativity

thatcarriedthroughtothe

veryeveofthe

revolution.

Straddling

twoerasinFren

chtheatre,Beaumarchais

beganhisc

areerunderthe

auspicesofthe

kingand

endeditun

derthecooleye

oftheNationalConvention.

Morethan

anyotherplayw

rightofhistime

hewasthe

inheritorofarichtradition

,andtheherald

ofchanges

tocome.


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1637Pierre Corneilles Le Cidbrings the questiono the unities to the rontlines o French art,and (or better or worse) this neoclassical stylewill dominate French theatre or the next 200years.

Descartes Discourses on the Methodoers theuniversally amous statement Cogito ergosum: I think, thereore I am.

1659

Jean Baptist Poquelinknown to history asMonsieur de Molirearrives in Paris with his

traveling company o players. They had touredthe French countryside or years perorming

irreverent arces to adoring crowds. Louis XIVwould soon christen them the Troupe du Roi.

1666The Great Fire o London.

1667With the premiere o his frst play Andromaque,Jean Racine announces himsel as the greattragic writer o his day. He will go on to pensome o the most memorable verse plays o histime, including Brnice, Phdre andBritanicus.

1645Jodelet, writtenand perormed by Paul Scarron,

takes Paris by storm. A clownish characterwith a white powdered ace, Jodelet was theperect blend o Italian commedia practices

and French classicism.

1682Louis XIV moves the royal court rom Paris

to the newly constructed Palace o Versailles,which becomes the new (and removed) seat

o French power. This will have a proound, anddevastating, eect on the peoples relationship

to the monarchy.

1687Sir Isaac Newton publishes his law o universalgravitation.

1689With the death o Molire in 1673, the Troupedu Roi loses their greatest writer, but continuesto perorm stunning comedies. In 1689, theaging King Louis XIV, absolutist o absolute

monarchs orders them to join orces with an-other company or orm the Comedie Francaise.Its good to be the king.

1692The Salem witch trials begin.

1715The death o Louis XIV leaves his fve year-old

great grandson to be crowned king.

1728The Beggars Opera by John Gay, considered bysome the frst musical, premieres in London.

1729Premiere oThe Game of Love and Chance by

Marivaux, one o his greatest works. He detlycombines the commedia tradition with anascent comedy o manners stylecombining

romance, wordplay and social commentary,oten seen through the lens o a servant and his

(or her) master or mistress.


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1774Louis XVI crowned king o France.

1775Ater some urious post-frst night rewrites,

BeaumarchaisThe Barber of Seville becomes asmash hit.

1754

St Andrews Royal and Ancient Gol Clubounded in Scotland.

The start o the French and Indian War in NorthAmerica (part o the global Seven Years War).

1757

The Natural Son (Diderot) begins a ad orcomedy o tearssentimental tales o the

middle class rather than adventures o the elite.

1767Eugene , Beaumarchais frst drama, is playedat the Comedie Franaise. It does not go well.

1773She Stoops to Conquerby Oliver Goldsmith.

1748

The Liar by Carlo Goldoni

1732

Birth o Pierre-Augustin CaronPublication o Voltaires tragedyZaire.

Benjamin Franklin prints the frst issueso his Poor Richards Almanac.

1776

The American Revolution begins.

1778-1781

The Marriage of Figaro is written and then

widely read throughout Parisian high society,but the king reuses to allow perormances.

1784Figaro fnally has its frst perormance at theOdeon in Paris.

1786

Mozarts opera Le nozze de Figaro premieresin Vienna.

1789

The French Revolution begins.

During this time, many new theatres open, andplaywrights are encouraged to write plays oncurrent events and patriotismbut the newregime is quick to censor any play that criticizesthe government.

1792

The Guilty Mother, the third and fnal Figaroplay, premieres to universal dislikeFrance

was in no mood or sentimental amily drama.

1793

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are executedin Paris.

1777

Beaumarchais orms The Society o Authors

which would eventually go on to establish

copyright laws in France. Beaumarchais

reerred to it as his society o crazy people.

Documents

The Pearl Insider - Figaro (Vol 29 No 1)